Non-payment For Title Properties: FG Gives 60-days Warning, Sanction

The federal government has given 60-days warning notice to owners of its titled properties who have continued to default in payment of ground rent and other statutory charges, saying they should pay or stand the risk of losing their C of Os.

The minister of housing and urban development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, gave the warning at the two-day 29th Conference of directors of Lands in the federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Abuja.

The minister lamented that for several years, the federal government has lost trillions of naira due to non-compliance to these payments to the housing ministry and warned that this cannot be tolerated.

“I want to use this occasion to address pertinent issues that are hampering the ability of the government to maximise the revenue earning potential of its landed assets. The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is aware that several owners of its titled properties have failed to pay ground rent and other statutory charges to the ministry for several years now. This non-compliance has resulted in the loss of trillions of naira in revenue to the federal government.”

“As such all Federal C of O title owners are hereby given a 60-day notice to settle all outstanding ground rent and statutory charges. Failure to make payment within this period will result in the revocation of their C of Os”, he said.

Furthermore, Dangiwa revealed that the Ministry has observed the activities of various residents associations of federal government’s landed properties who are preventing Ministry staff from accessing the estates for billing purposes and enforcement of non-payments and warned that such associations should comply with the terms and conditions outlined in their respective C of Os adding that failure to adhere to these requirements will attract the appropriate penalties and sanctions.